Project: Neverbound (A Double Life AU fanfic)

20 - (Part 1) To Remember a Living Friend

Impulse's abrupt awakening was surprising and hurtful, as his ghostly body phased through the partner he was leaning on and fell directly onto the hospital floor. He and Bdubs agreed to watch over Tango while Jimmy, and therefore him too, were unconscious, and in the little time Tango had been awake after the accident, he wanted to see his soulbound in the hospital, only that was a few hours ago and it was getting dark out, so Impulse and Bdubs ended up falling asleep on a bench in the hallway across from Jimmy's room.

Impulse's biggest issue right now wasn't that he'd hurt anything, or even that he was back here in the first place, but it was whoever was laughing very loudly at him face planting the white tiles.

"BFF- AHAHAHAHA!" They bellowed, as if it was the funniest thing they'd ever seen in a long time. Impulse had no doubt that this probably was, considering they had to have been another ghost trapped here, but he believed in explanations, not excuses.

"Pause, that was not funny!" Another voice chimed in, which surprised Impulse. "...ok it was kind of funny, but not that funny. He just died, show some respect!"

"Ok mom, whatever you say," Pause retaliated, but still giggling under his breath as the brunette could easily hear. He finally picked his head up to look at the two ghosts.

The one closer to him, who he assumed was Pause from his continued giggling, had a headdress of black, white, and red feathers, falling all the way down his back. Leather clothing accompanied other red, cyan, and white decorations, and red paint went around his eyes like a mask. More like eye, since the left half of his face and most of his left arm looked like charcoal, as if he had been burned, and his left eye was missing from its socket.

The second ghost had similar scars, his right arm, leg, and a portion of the right side of his body smoldered to a crisp, though he still had both of his green eyes. He had on a black shirt mostly covered in the front by an apron that was pure white aside from the small patches of bloodstains on it, accompanied by blue jeans and black sneakers. The oddest thing about his appearance wasn't any of that, but rather that, where all the other ghosts Impulse had seen were shaded over in green, the raven haired one was tinted blue instead.

"Not dead, by the way," Impulse corrected, standing up and rubbing the pain out of his face. "Just like to stop by the old post-mortem realm for funsies,"

He said the last line with a twang of sarcasm.

"...yeah, right, that's believable." Pause said, rolling his eyes. "Beef, can you believe this guy?"

"Oh my gosh..." Impulse groaned. "Look, I don't wanna be here for that long, so do either of you happen to know where I can find Shubble?"

"The gnome?" Beef asked. "She usually spends her time around the forest that way,"

He pointed east from the way the hospital faced. Impulse nodded.

"Thank you," he said, walking to the wall expecting to phase through it like a ghost should. Instead, he ran smack dab into it as if it were still solid, slamming his face for the second time that night. He was starting to hope his soulbound connection didn't transcend realms, or else Bdubs would be asking him way too many questions when they woke up.

"Dude!" Pause said, sounding less concerned and more annoyed. "Do you know how lucky you are to have a perfectly good body when you're dead? Don't ruin it by breaking your nose!"

"Not. Dead." Impulse corrected again, not speaking much until the pain went away and he could take his hand off of his face. "Why didn't I go through the wall? You're supposed to be able to do that, right?"

"Have you ever phased through a wall before?" Beef asked. "Because if you haven't, that would explain it."

"I have to learn how to do that?" Impulse asked. Beef nodded.